“There’s an old skater’s saying: Don’t be afraid of falling,” fashion designer and former elite figure skater Vera Wang told The Cut. “It’s 90 percent falling—otherwise you don’t master anything. You might hurt your ass. Or break your ankle. Or crack a rib. It’s the same thing in life… Have the courage to try. Otherwise, what are we here for?” Her words are an excellent credo for any new adult pursuing adventures.
Wang—born in New York in 1949 to Chinese immigrant parents—dreamed as a teenager of becoming an Olympic figure skater. Although she lived in New York, where her mother was a translator for the United Nations, she trained in Denver during the summers. “Skating was a chance for me to express myself in a creative way,” Wang told British Vogue, “It was the blend of all worlds—music, dance, athletics, choreography and, of course, costumes.” She was featured in Sports Illustrated’s Faces in the Crowd and competed in the 1968 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. When she failed to make the U.S. Olympics team, Wang was devastated.
However, there was a silver lining to the time devoted to adventures on the ice: “All those years of skating and dancing have carried over. I can’t design anything without thinking of how a woman’s body will look and move when she’s wearing it.” Wang spent 17 years as an editor at Vogue, leaving in 1987 to join Ralph Lauren. A few years later she realized bridal wear design was her calling and resigned. Wang said, “When I decided to get married at 40, I couldn’t find a dress with the modernity or sophistication I wanted. That’s when I saw the opportunity for a wedding gown business.”
According to Vogue, “Her bridal looks are a celebrity favorite: she’s designed wedding dresses for a long list of star clients, including Ariana Grande, Beyonce, Jennifer Lopez, Mariah Carey, Uma Thurman and Vanessa Hudgens.” And she grew her company to more than $700 million in annual sales and expanded into ready-to-wear and accessories. Skating brought Wang to fashion, and fashion ultimately brought her back to skating. After many years of designing costumes for the US Olympic figure skating team, she was inducted into the US Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 2009.
